Shriekmaw takes care of Emrakul and is still a decent removal spell/late-game threat. Unfortunately it doesn't deal with Griselbrand so Fleshbag might be better if you want this slot just for SnT. That or straight-up Karakas.
Played at another local tournament, going 3-1 and making top four (prize was split). I played this list:
4 Dark Confidant
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
3 Innocent Blood
3 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Go for the Throat
4 Hymn to Tourach
2 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Liliana of the Veil
3 Wasteland
19 Swamp
Sideboard
3 Pithing Needle
1 Thoughtseize
4 Extirpate
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Virtue's Ruin
3 Engineered Plague
I beat Eureka/Show and Tell combo, U/W Stoneblade, and Imperial Painter while losing to Junk due to bad mulligan decisions. I did not board against Eureka as I won game one off a game loss (opponent was late). Game two I led with discard spells and closed the game with Liliana discard and Nighthawk beats. Liliana is absolutely insane in this matchup, as the deck needs at least two cards in hand to go off (and she can also edict away their big guys). We played another game for the hell of it and my discard didn't stop Eureka from resolving. However, I dropped Liliana off Eureka, and her plus Innocent Blood offed his two big dudes. Liliana was key in beating Stoneblade, as that deck is vulnerable to sustained discard, and edicting away Batterskull germs can gain you valuable time. Phyrexian Obliterator is also patently insane against hordes of spirits, snapcasters, etc. because blocking him is very difficult (I was able to race active Umezawa's Jitte game one due to the power of Obliterator). Game two I shut out Lingering Souls with Engineered Plague on Spirits, and nuked his Jitte with Ratchet Bomb before getting there with Lili + dudes. I got blown out against Junk due to keeping a greedy one-lander on the draw game one, and a triple-Wasteland hand game two (he opened with basics). Imperial Painter was a nail-biter of a match - Liliana owned him game one but I died turn 3 game two. Game three active Umezawa's Jitte (on an Obliterator lol) got me there following a Ratchet Bomb at three killing the Ensnaring Bridge that I forgot he boards. While Go for the Throat obviously doesn't kill Painter, it did find targets whenever I drew it (typically Jaya Ballard).
Over a couple of tournaments and some testing in between I have become convinced of a couple of things. First, the deck barely ever needs Wasteland (Maze of Ith is one of the only serious problems you will face). It also makes certain hands un-keepable due to our restrictive mana costs. I will be dropping to two for next week I think. Second, 22 lands is not enough - I have lost to mana screw repeatedly and have had to mulligan for lands too many times. I'm not sure if I will go to 61 cards to add another Swamp, or if I will find a card to cut (advice there would be appreciated as every card in the deck seems essential at this point). Virtue's Ruin has not been particularly good as Maverick is no longer a presence in my meta (although there are a lot of Junk decks, they typically run a mixture of creature colors). Lingering Souls is best answered with Plague or Bomb IMO, so the Virtue's Ruin slot might go to Damnation or maybe Infest (multiple Deathrite Shamans is a huge problem when you have VR stuck in your hand against Junk). I may try to work in a third Ratchet Bomb, as it is a very versatile answer to a lot of problems.
Every card in the last has been very good, although Innocent Blood and sometimes Gatekeeper get sided out a lot due to the prevalence of Lingering Souls. Liliana has been absolutely insane and I am convinced that three is the minimum number in this deck. Obliterator is also ridiculous and can completely stall any deck seeking to win through the combat step, just be careful not to run it into STP (usually your opponent will blow STP on Nighthawk or Bob though, plus you have discard).
Lord of the Chalice
Originally Posted by Julian23
Stompy Discord: https://discord.gg/6cesvkz
So I'm looking to build the Gate. I put it on hold for a few months while I sorted my standard deck out but now my mate has invited me to a legacy thingy at his place. Food. Beer. Magic. Can't really argue with that. He is allowing some proxies so I'm kinda going off what I have/can proxy quickly to get this ready.
S'not ideal but feedback loved
My list is currently:
4 Dark Confidant
3 Gatekeeper of Malakir
4 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Abyssal Persecutor
4 Innocent Blood
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Duress
3 Cabal Therapy
2 Go for the Throat
4 Hymn to Tourach
2 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Bitterblossom
2 Wasteland
20 Swamp
Sideboard
3 Deathrite Shaman
1 Duress
3 Shrieking Affliction
2 Pithing Needle
6 Sideboard slots left
Nic Fit matchup is horrible
You miss GY Hate. 4 Extirpate right away, and I would cut 1 Innocent Blood and 1 Hymn (or 2 Liliana, I didn't see her do good in The Gate yet) for 2 Faerie Macabre MD, just to make sure. Your deck seems tuned for your preference which is fine, it's overall a great list. But you get beat by one card, Leyline of Sanctity. Grab some Dystopia in sideboard for that or Ratchet Bomb for more general use. Have you tried DRS yet? I didn't like it much but if you do it's fine.
-1 Innocent Blood
-1 Hymn to Tourach
(Or 2 Liliana)
+2 Faerie Macabre
SB:
+4 Extirpate
+2 Dystopia
Agree on the sideboard suggestions. However, DO NOT CUT LILIANA, she's been arguably the best card in the deck in my experience so far. I wouldn't run Faerie Macabre at all, the card is pretty bad.
Lord of the Chalice
Stompy Discord: https://discord.gg/6cesvkz
While I can accept that you had different experience with Liliana than myself, how can you even say Faerie Macabre is pretty bad? She is so far the only card I've seen able to save you from turn 1 Ionia. Uncounterspellable save from Ionia. Stifle? Ok, but how many decks run it?
Seriously this card is amazing and so versatile. I wonder what motivates your thoughts.
My friend has The Gate built, and I think he's been liking Dark Ritual in his deck. I know the deck is all about incremental card-advantage, but Turn 1 Dark Ritual into IoK/Duress into Hymn to Tourach is almost game against a bunch of stuff. Also, he runs Phyrexian Arena instead of Bob (budget concerns), and landing an Arena t1 with Ritual is pretty awesome, especially since most decks don't run enchantment hate maindec (or none that I have seen as of yet.)
''The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.'' Lord Eddard Stark - A Game of Thrones
-Adsum
-ChrisMeister on MTGO
How about Abrupt Decay? Pretty much kills Phyrexian Arena. The main problems with arena is that it's garanteed damage and costs 1 more, where confidant doesn't do damage when he picks lands. The average damage with bob is 1.65 which isn't that much higher anyways.
1.65 damage a turn kills you in ~12 turns where as 1 damage always kills you in 20. In addition, Bob gives your opponent information about your draws. The guaranteed damage isn't an issue unless you have manipulation like Top. The only flaw of Arena is the extra mana.
And that it does not carry a Jitte... seems clear to me which card is definitely better.
That only applies here. Some decks, like Junk or BUG do not necessarily play equipment. Jitte is an extra argument in the case of the Gate.
Junk runs jitte as well, and Bob is strictly better in that deck. BUG also doesn't run Bob / shouldn't run bob if they do in the face of Jace / Forces.
Not all Junk lists run Jitte and a lot of BUG lists run Bob despite Force/Jace. Even Team two years ago when it was big ran Bob.
Don't BUG and Rock/Junk run Top? (Minimizing Bob damage)
Anyway, what do you guys think about a Modern version of The Gate?
What could be used as replacements for Jitte and Bitterblossom?
Extravagance is the enemy.
"It doesn't really feel good when it works, it just feels bad when it doesn't" - movie title unknown
It doesnt work well in Modern, at all. Also this is legacy discussion.
In Modern, you have to go for BW for anything that's Gate-esque to work. You need playsets of Bob, Nighthawk, Gatekeeper, Thalia, Tidehollow Sculler, Liliana, Obliterator, Inquistion/Thoughtseize, and probably a combination of Damnation and Mirran Crusader. Possibly Deathrite Shaman could fit in as well.
I'm gonna be playing in a side event for GP Sydney next month and I need to finalize my decklist...
16 Swamp
4 Wasteland
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Vampire Nighthawk
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
3 Dark Confidant
2 Abyssal Persecutor
1 Street Wraith
4 Cabal Therapy
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Bitterblossom
3 Hymn to Tourach
3 Innocent Blood
2 Darkblast
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Undecided Slots
I am unsure of what to put in the last three slots. I think it'll either be 3 Faerie Macabre, or 2 Faerie and 1 more Innocent Blood, or 3 Deathrite Shaman.
Sideboard is still really up-in-the-air, I think it will look something like this;
3 Leyline of the Void / Ravenous Trap
3 Dystopia / Powder Keg
3 Spinning Darkness / Soul Spike
3 Phyrexian Revoker / Pithing Needle
3 Big Game Hunter / Shriekmaw
What do you guys think?
-1 Street Wraith
+1 Confidant
+1 Liliana
Street Wraith is awful. You were considering Deathrite Shaman, but gets worse with Innocent Blood. If you go for Shaman, you could throw in a bit of green (you'd definitely want fetches anyway) and could get a few Abrupt Decay to replace Innocent Blood.
What threats does Darkblast handle?
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